INTERVIEW WITH
RICK STEIN Award-winning chef Rick Stein talks Cornish beaches, cooking inspo and becoming Padstow’s biggest attraction Words | Chantal Borciani
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ICK STEIN’S LOVE AFFAIR with Cornwall began in his childhood and has helped define his prestigious culinary career. “My parents had a house at Trevose Head from the late 1930’s so my memories go back to when I was extremely tiny in the early 50s; swimming at the beach below our house which is now where the lifeboat house is, buckets and spades, blue and very uncomfortable woollen swimming costumes,” explains Rick. In 1975, the chef set up a small fish restaurant on the harbourside in Padstow with his wife Jill and over the ensuing decades The Seafood Restaurant won international acclaim for its boat-fresh fish menu and put the picturesque Cornish haven on the map like never before. The Stein empire in Padstow has certainly blossomed – a café, deli and gift shop followed the restaurant, along with a cookery school, and a hotel and bistro up the lanes at St Petroc’s. Rick’s love and skill for cooking fresh seafood simply yet exquisitely secured book deals and ever popular TV series. Rick’s travel diaries from around the world have brought the flavours of the world into UK living rooms for decades and accompanying cookery books were – and continue to be – best sellers.
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THE CALL OF CORNWALL Rick and Jill are now divorced but continue to run the businesses together. They expanded the Rick Stein dining concept with a small chain of eponymous restaurants bringing the fish-focused menus to other parts of the UK, but Cornwall remains closest to Rick’s heart. “I didn’t choose Padstow, Padstow chose me, it’s like when people say, ‘things happen for a reason’. In a weird way I think I couldn’t have ended up anywhere else,” Rick says. “I think the net result of lots of travel is actually to accentuate the unique qualities of somewhere like Cornwall rather than to diminish them, simply because when you’ve seen it all you start looking at our own sandy beaches, seafood and even the smell of seaweed on the rocks at Harlyn, with greater love.” “I love Padstow for its strong sense of identity. There are Cornish coastal towns that seem to exist almost solely for the summer season, and all but die at the end of October, but Padstow is very different. There’s a yearround community here, which makes the town feel very much alive, even in the depths of winter.” Forty five years after first opening its doors, The Seafood Restaurant is still one of Cornwall’s top dining spots, overlooking
